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Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Fun with Florals!

Alternative Fashions for Springtime

Spring is almost officially here! I've been hearing the many mating calls of birds and believe it or not, I've seen grass!!! I'm excited for sunnier days. I've even been feeling the change inside myself. All winter I felt lethargic and unmotivated but now I have a sense of renewal, like I can take on any task. I have many plans for my wardrobe this year and I am now beginning my spring and summer sewing. I often daydream about the outfits I would like to make and when I do that I like to look at what's out there in shops. This is what lead to today's post which features alternative outfits for spring!

Bodacious Botany

(Photo at the top of post) This might not bet the case for where you live, but it's awfully chilly around here! This is why my first mood board features pants and a sweatshirt. The best way to start a spring wardrobe is by preparing yourself for inclement weather, sweaters are excellent for this. I often leave my leggings, sweaters and cardigans unpacked in the spring. I love this sweater from Attitude Clothing, it reminds me of when I was a little girl; I used to enjoy looking through old science books because the illustrations were gorgeous! This sweatshirt has a nice mixture of flora and fauna, and of course a few skulls thrown in there. I was very happy with the crushed velvet shorts I made last month, which is why I've included black crushed velvet pants in this mood board. It's a comfortable material and it looks sharp, I think it compliments the sweater nicely. For accessories I selected this darling purse by Banned Apparel. I love the oriental feel of it and I would be very happy to add it to my purse collection! I also chose an inverted cross necklace and earring set, which although ordinarily not my scene, I like the simplicity of the pieces and the rose gold. I chose to pair this jewelry set with this super cool skull ring from Rock n' Rose. Overall, I think this look is very sweet and subtle.

In Bloom

Obviously this entire post features a continuous theme of floral prints. Sometimes the best way to to use floral is in subtle punches of colour. I've seen many pieces in recent seasons that are far too busy and saturated to be truly enjoyable. In this board, I've chosen an adorable sweatshirt from ChainCandy. I like the soft hues of red and green in this piece, it's very feminine and contrasts nicely against the black background. I brought the floral print into the sunglasses and the socks choosing products with the same muted colours. The size and placement of these accessories are small enough not to overpower the look, but they also help to create a visual interest from top to bottom. I paired the sweatshirt with a simple black mini skirt and black suede pumps. For earrings, I chose these super cute cat earrings from Irregular Choice, aren't they adorable?! :)

Garden Party

For this mood board I felt like creating a look that was more playful (obviously for warmer temperatures). Although I will probably never wear a bodysuit again in my life, I recognize that they have their place in the world of fashion. If I were styling this outfit for myself, that bodysuit would be a bathing suit and I would wear it to the beach. I love the idea of draping sheer material over prints and I've seen this done a lot in recent years. I think that putting a simple black bodysuit beneath this sheer striped dress could create a really fascinating look! I could definitely see myself walking on the boardwalk in this, with an ice cream cone at hand! For the shoes I selected these digital rose print boots from TUK, I wanted to use something comfortable but with a bit of edge to it (you know, something with more attitude than a pair of flip flops). My accessories were an easy choice, I wanted to bring aspects of the floral bodysuit into the glasses, so I selected a pair of ombre sunglasses with little pink flowers on them. For the jewelry, I decided black would be best and used these fab rose drop earrings from Alchemy Gothic, and this black King Cobra ring from Irregular Choice.

Black Rose Bouquet

I know that some of you probably cringe at pastels, so I couldn't help but create a more Gothic springtime look. Roses are a fairly popular motif in Goth fashion, they've been around for decades and I'm happy with that because my inner girly girl adores them! For this look I selected a dress that reminds me of the more traditional Gothic aesthetic. It has a very 90's feel to it. I wanted to accent this dress with punches of purple (because you know I love purple), so I chose this adorable little floral head piece from Rock n' Rose. I then selected these comfy looking light up shoes, a rose cameo purse and black rose earrings. Because many of the items in this mood board are subtle, I figured it would be nice to carry the colour scheme into the makeup, which is why I chose this cute fuchsia lipstick by Medusa's Makeup and this pretty sparkly shadow from Concrete.

Dress - "Moonchild" Dress by Motel

Shoes - "State of Flux" Shoes by Irregular Choice

Earrings - Black Rose Stud Earrings by Alchemy Gothic

Hair Accessory - "Stella" Floral Crown by Rock n' Rose

Purse - "Deadly Roses" Cameo Purse by Restyle

Lipstick - "Skid Row" Lipstick by Medusa's Makeup

Eyeshadow - "Wanderlust" Eyeshadow by Concrete Minerals

Rose Buds

If I'm going to do a Gothic look I might as well do a Fae inspired look as well. The departure point for this mood board is this adorable dress from Dolly Bae. It looked Fae to me because of the texture and the way the dress is styled, it's very whimsical. I thought it would look lovely paired with this distressed cardigan, which again, is a very Fae in texture. I then accessorized the outfit using rose jewelry, a rose clutch, and these fabulous statement shoes by Y.R.U. - which admittedly take this outfit from being ordinary Fae fashion to Street Fae (now there's a term I've never heard before).

22 comments:

I recently bought a pair of floral leggings. I haven’t worn them yet but I am sure I will one day;-)I love the “Oriental Flower Bag”. Great for keeping necklaces and bracelets safe (yes, I would use it as a jewelry box).

I love floral leggings! They look so pretty when paired with black tunics or dresses. And I completely agree, this Oriental bag could double as a jewelry box. I imagine it would look very nice sitting on top of a dresser or vanity. :)

yesss i think velvet is just perfect for springtime! and also the copper / rose gold accessoires, just perfect (i wish those were available as studs - or maybe they are but i didnt see them yet? would look nice as spiked collars, too...)

I know right? Velvet is like the perfect solution to that in between seasons problem we keep having in my city; it's the right weight to keep me warm without suffocating me! It'll be sad when it gets really hot though and I can no longer wear my velvet shorts. >.< And I agree I wish they were studs. I'm more into stud earrings than the really big dangly ones, I think it's left over from when I had long hair and it always got tangled around big earrings lol.

I love that sweet pink dress! I am very much a pastel girl. I adore faery clothing, but I don't think I'm really goth at all. So pastels and florals are right up my alley! Anything that looks like a garden princess would wear it is awesome ;)

I have an inner fairy princess that's just dying to get out lol, but I have no items in my wardrobe quite like that at the moment - something to strive for in my sewing projects I guess! I'm more alternative than Goth which is nice because I'm not afraid to mess with different styles. You never know what to expect from an alternative girl! :)

Thanks for such a lovely comment! I love light up shoes. I was feeling nostalgic when I picked those, I always wanted light up shoes as a kid. Our first day of spring was decent but apparently our temperatures here will drop below freezing again. >.< I just want shorts weather damn it!!

Oh my floral loving goodness, yes!!! I've had a thing for black + pink florals for as far back as I can remember. Some of it can be chalked up to my 80s childhood, I know, but it goes deeper than that to that place in my fashion loving soul when my goth and uber girly-girl sides collide and mingle in a sea of roses and midnight skies.

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